CHICAGO — You could have heard a baseball, as flung from the Wrigley Field bleachers, drop as Jason Kipnis circled the bases in the seventh inning Saturday night.

The Cubs came to this World Series to embarrass, not be embarrassed, but here they are on the verge of disappearing from the Fall Classic for another winter of wondering when a dreaded world championship drought dating to 1908 might end.

Kipnis’ three-run homer against Travis Wood was the knockout punch for the Indians, now within a victory of ending their own curse after beating the Cubs 7-2 in Game 4 of the World Series before 41,706 at the Friendly Confines.

The Indians, ahead 3-1 in the series, get three chances if needed to win one game and secure their first World Series title since 1948. If they cannot finish business Sunday night at Wrigley, there is the comfort of returning home to Cleveland, where Games 6 and 7 would be played if needed.

“There’s no reason to stop now the things we’ve been doing,” Kipnis said. “The last couple of series, we’ve jumped out to leads, and we’ve talked about the same things, not letting them in, because we’ve probably faced three of the tougher lineups in baseball.”

A crew as talented as the Cubs — who won 103 games in the regular season — cannot be ruled out, but the last 10 teams to fall into a 3-1 hole in the World Series have lost it. The 1985 Royals were the last team to win it all after falling into a 3-1 World Series deficit.

About the only fortune for the Cubs is they will dispatch ace Jon Lester for Game 5 to face Trevor Bauer.

“Our team is a little bit better, and we haven’t been playing up to our standards, but what are you going to do?” Cubs shortstop Addison Russell said. “Our team is better than one run, two runs, but [the Indians] played their heart out tonight.”

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Corey Kluber was brilliant over six innings for the Indians, allowing one run on five hits and one walk with six strikeouts. It followed the six shutout innings Kluber provided in the Indians’ Game 1 victory in Cleveland.

In the seventh, Coco Crisp delivered a pinch-hit double to lead off, and Rajai Davis was drilled by a pitch from Justin Grimm before Wood entered and surrendered the blast to Kipnis, who grew up in the suburbs of this city rooting for the Cubs.

“To have my family in the stands, friends in the stands, but more importantly help this offense — which I’ve been struggling to do — that was one of the bigger enjoyments for me,” Kipnis said.

The Indians had widened the lead to 4-1 in the sixth, with Lonnie Chisenhall’s sacrifice fly, after Carlos Santana knocked the glove off pitcher Mike Montgomery. Santana’s line shot through the box went for an infield single, giving the Indians the fuel they needed for the rally. Francisco Lindor had walked to lead off the inning.

John Lackey was finished after five innings in which he allowed three runs, two earned, on four hits and one walk with five strikeouts. It continued a lackluster postseason for the veteran righty, who has not lasted beyond the fifth in any of his three starts.

“I felt great tonight — as good as I’ve felt in a month or two,” Lackey said. “A couple of things didn’t go my way and then the homer, and that was kind of the story.”

Kris Bryant was charged with two errors in the second, helping the Indians score a second run in the inning after Santana’s solo homer. Chisenhall hit a grounder that Bryant threw away before Kluber’s swinging bunt with two outs created chaos.

Bryant fielded the squib and threw to first. The ball hit off Anthony Rizzo’s glove and rolled away. It was ruled a Bryant error. Chisenhall kept running and scored.

“Hopefully we win out and these first four games will be forgotten,” Bryant said. “We know the task. We’ve got to win them all.”